Tyson Gay debuts with 20-flat in Kingston (© Getty Images)
Reigning World champions Tyson Gay, Jeremy Wariner, Bernard Lagat, Kerron Clement, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Allyson Felix are among the high profile entrants for the adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson on Sunday (18 May).
The adidas Track Classic is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 13-14 September in Stuttgart.
Gay will try to emulate his Osaka World Championship 100m-200m sprint double at the breezy Home Depot Center – the site of the 2005USATF national championships - with just over a little an hour between the events.
In the 100m, Gay will be joined by Osaka gold medal 4x100m relay team-mates Leroy Dixon, Wallace Spearmon and Darvis Patton. Also in the field is 2007 World Championships silver medallist Derrick Atkins (BAH) and Dwight Thomas (JAM).
The 200m will pit Gay against Xavier “X-Man” Carter in a match-up between the Nos. 2 and 3 sprinters on the all-time performer list along with Rodney Martin, who finished fourth in the 200m in Osaka.
Busy week for Felix
The adidas Track Classic will culminate a whirlwind week for Felix, who completed a 10.93 100m and 49.83 200m double at the Qatar Super Grand Prix - IAAF World Athletics Tour - meeting in Doha on 9 May. Her time is the 100m is the current world leader and career-best, while Felix’s 400m time gave her a share of the yearly world lead.
Today (Friday), Felix will participate in graduation ceremonies at the University of Southern California for her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education just a short drive up the 110 Freeway from the Home Depot Center.
The women’s 100m will feature seven of the top 10 in the world from 2007, including the last three World Champions with reigning champion Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM), Lauryn Williams (2005) and Torri Edwards (2003).
Carmelita Jeter, the bronze medallist in Osaka, is competing on her former college track at Cal State Dominguez Hills and lives in nearby Inglewood. Me’Lisa Barber, Kerron Stewart (JAM) and Debbie Ferguson (BAH) are also in the field. Sanya Richards will drop down from the 400m to the 100m in Carson.
In the women’s 200m, Felix will face first-year professionals Bianca Knight and Shalonda Solomon, Muna Lee, LaShaunte’a Moore and Sherry Fletcher (GRN). Knight recently turned professional after setting a collegiate record of 22.40 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March competing for the University of Texas where she still attends.
Solomon, the 2004 World Junior champion, is in her first full season as a professional after relinquishing her senior season of collegiate eligibility at South Carolina. Felix and Solomon raced frequently in high school while attending L.A. Baptist and Long Beach Poly high schools in the greater Los Angeles region.
Wariner chasing own meet record
Wariner’s adidas Track Classic meet record of 44.53 could be challenged on Sunday. He has displayed fitness in his two open 400m races, clocking 44.56 on his home track at Baylor University on 19 April and 44.82 in Melbourne on 21 Feb.
In Carson, the defending Olympic champion will be challenged by 2008 World Indoor 400m champion Tyler Christopher (CAN), 2007 World Championships 400m Hurdles winner Kerron Clement, and former college and 2004 Olympic gold medal 4 x 400m relay teammate Darold Williamson.
The women’s 400m features Dee Dee Trotter and Mary Wineberg, who teamed on the U.S. gold medal 4 x 400m relay in Osaka, and 2008 World Indoor bronze medalist Shareese Woods. Natasha Hastings, Monica Hargrove, Monique Henderson and Jamaica’s Novlene Williams and Sonita Sutherland are others on the start list.
College reunion for Powell and Davis
Ginnie Powell and Candice Davis, who were team-mates at the University of Southern California, will be reunited in the women’s 100m Hurdles.
Powell is the 2006 and 2007 USATF champion and collegiate record holder. Davis, a first-year open athlete who trains with Larry Wade’s Double Pillar Athletics group, finished second in the 60m Hurdles in the 2008 World Indoor Championships.
Powell and Davis will be joined by 2004 Olympic champion Joanna Hayes, current world leader Damu Cherry and Jamaica’s Lucena Golding-Clarke and Vonette Dixon.
Four-time World outdoor champion Allen Johnson, who turned 37 on 1 March, will duel with the 2000 and 2004 Olympic silver medallist Terrence Trammell and Aries Merritt in the men’s 110m Hurdles. Anwar Moore is coming off a win at the Modesto Relays on 10 May.
In the 400m Hurdles, 2005 World champion Bershawn Jackson will take on 2007 Carson winner Kenneth Ferguson, whose training has been limited by trips from Los Angeles to Detroit to visit his father Kenneth Ferguson Sr. who is battling lung cancer, and 2007 World Championships finalist Derrick Williams.
Lagat headlines 1500m
Bernard Lagat, who completed a historic World 1500m-5,000m double in Osaka, will run the 1500m in Carson against Kevin Sullivan (CAN), Boaz Cheboiywo (KEN), Chris Lukezic and Lopez Lomong.
Lagat clocked a U.S.-leading 13:16.29 in the 5000m in cool evening temperatures in the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford on 4 May. Times may be affected in Carson, however, in hot, warm mid-day temperatures projected on Sunday.
Galen Rupp, the collegiate record holder at 10,000m, will run in the 3000m, with Adam Goucher, Jonathan Riley, brothers Jorge and Eduardo Torres and Ian Dobson.
In the women’s 1500m, Shannon Rowbury, the 2008 USATF Indoor 3000m champion, is the U.S. yearly leader and Christn Wurth-Thomas is the USATF Indoor 1500m champion.
Kara Goucher, the Osaka World Championships bronze medallist in the 10,000m, and Osaka 5000m finalist, will meet at 3000m. The 800m includes Alice Schmidt, Diane Cummins (CAN), Neisha Bernard-Thomas (GRN) and Nicole Cook.
Cantwell and Nelson in the Shot Put
Christian Cantwell and Adam Nelson will renew their rivalry in the Shot Put. Cantwell threw a season-best 21.96m for the No. 3 mark of 2007 at last year’s meet. He is coming off a world-leading 21.76 effort at the Modesto Relays.
Nelson was the 2008 world indoor leader at 22.40m but failed to qualify for the U.S. World Indoor Championships team with Cantwell going on to win the gold medal. The rotation also includes Dan Taylor, 2007 World Championships team member Noah Bryant and Dylan Armstrong (CAN).
The women’s Pole Vault includes current and former American record holders Jenn Stuczynski and Stacy Dragila. Stuczynski scaled a global-leading 5.70m in Modesto.
In the women’s High Jump, three-time Olympian Amy Acuff is part of a field that includes comeback athletes Chaunte Howard and Tisha Waller. Howard, the 2005 World Championships silver medallist, took the 2007 season off because of pregnancy while Waller until the start of this year had not competed since the 2004 Olympic preliminaries.
Tianna Madison and Akiba McKinney will be looking regain their form in the women’s Long Jump. Madison, the 2005 World champion, had knee surgery in 2006. McKinney, the third-place finisher in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials,
The adidas Track Classic, which is the second stop on the five-meet USA Track & Field Visa Championship Series that culminates with the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. on 26 June- July 6.
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
